Compliance Toolkit

Microsoft writes €497m cheque to EU

Jo Best silicon.com

Published: 02 Jul 2004 16:25 BST

Microsoft has paid the fine levied on it by the EU following the antitrust suit earlier this year, despite announcing that it will be appealing the ruling.

The software giant was hit with a €497m fine after the EU ruled it was acting anticompetitively in the media-player market. Although Microsoft is working to reverse the decision, EU law stipulated that the software behemoth still had to pay the whole amount within three months.

And pay they have. However, the cash will be kept 'neutrally' in an escrow account until Microsoft's appeal has been settled, with neither Redmond nor Brussels allowed access.

While the fine -- the largest ever imposed by the EU's antitrust watchdog -- still stands, the order imposed by Europe on Microsoft to change the way it bundles its media player software has been temporarily suspended pending the result of the appeal.